Introduction to

Java Programming
Y. Daniel Liang

Introduction

What is a computer?
Electronic devices that stores and process data
Includes both hardware and software

Hardware physical aspects that you can see

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Memory (main memory)
Storage Devices (hard disk, floppy disk, CDs, tapes)
Input and Output Devices (monitors, keyboards, mice,
printers)
Communication Devices (modems and network
interface cards)

Hardware

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Brain of a computer
Retrieves instructions from memory and executes them
2 components:

control unit
controls and coordinates the actions of the other components

arithmetic/logic unit
perform numeric operations (addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division)
Perform logic operations (comparison)

Built on semiconductor chip with millions of transistors

Hardware

Memory (main memory)

Data are encoded as a series of bits.
Bit binary digit: zero and one
Stores data and program instructions for CPU
to execute
A memory unit is an ordered sequence of bytes,
each holding 8 bits
Encoding scheme: ASCII

Hardware

Memory (main memory)

A program and its data must be brought to memory
before they can be executed
The content of memory is lost when new infor is placed
in it.
Each byte has a unique address, used to locate the byte.
Can be accessed in any order, thus is called RAM
(Random-access memory)
1 Megabyte (MB) is about 1 million bytes.
Also built on silicon semiconductor ships containing
thousands of transistors, but less complicated.
Memory is volatile, the content is lost when the power
is turned off.

Hardware

Storage Devices (hard disk, floppy disk, CDs,

tapes)
Programs and data are stored permanently on storage
devices and moved to memory when computer actually
uses them.
4 main types of storage devices:

Disk drives (hard disks, floppy disks)

CD drives (CD-R, CD-RW, DVD). DVD stands for Digital
versatile disc.
Tape drives
USB flash drives

Hardware

Input and Output Devices (monitors,

keyboards, mice, printers)
Allows user to communicate with the computer
Common input devices: keyboards, mice
Common output devices: monitors, printers.

Hardware

Communication Devices (modems and

network interface cards)
To create network of computers

Software

Software/computer program
invisible instructions that control the hardware and
make it perform specific tasks.
Tell computer what to do in computer/machine
language

Software

Computer languages
1. Machine language
2. Assembly language
3. High level language

Software

Machine language
a set of primitive instructions built into every
computer
Different for different types of computers.
The instructions are in the form of binary code,
e.g. to add 2 numbers (very tedious):

1101101010011010

Software

Assembly language
Low-level programming language which uses
mnemonic to represent machine-language
instructions
E.g.: ADDF3 R1, R2, R3
Assembly code need to be converted into
machine code by using an assembler
Assembly program
is platform dependent
Combination of mnemonic and machine instruction

Software

High-level language
English-like and easy to learn and program.
E.g.:

Area = 5 * 5 * 3.1415;

COBOL, FORTRAN, BASIC, Pascal, Ada, C,

Visual Basic, Delphi, C++, C#, Java
Source program is compiled into machine code
by a compiler and linked to supporting library
code by a linker to form an executable file. Fig.
1.4

Software

High-level language (continue)

Can port/move a source program to any
machine with appropriate compilers but the
source program must be recompiled
Java program, compiled it once into
intermediate machine code known as bytecode.
Bring the bytecode to any computer with a
JVM (Java Virtual Machine). JVM interprets
the bytecode into the machine codes and
execute them.

An overview of the java development process.

Source:
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/getStarted/intro/definition.html

Through the
Java VM, the
same
application is
capable of
running on
multiple
platforms.

Source:
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/getStarted/intro/definition.html

Software

Compiling versus interpreting

Compiling translates the high-level code into a
target language code as a single unit
Interpreting translates the individual steps in
the high level code one at a time. Each step is
execute immediately after it is translated.

Software

Operating system (OS)

Software that controls and manages the systems

Fig. 1.6, page 36.
E.g.: Windows (98, NT, XP, ME), MacOS, Linux etc.
Major tasks

Controlling and monitoring system activities (security, input,

output, file directories, make sure programs running together
do not interfere with each other)
Allocating and assigning system resources to program
Scheduling operations
Multiprogramming multiple programs to run simultaneously
by sharing CPU
Multithreading allows concurrency within a program; it
subunits can run at the same time (e.g. editing and saving at the
same time)
Multiprocessing/parallel processing use 2 or more processors
together to perform a task.

What Is Java?

History

Characteristics of Java

History

James Gosling

Oak 1991, for embedded consumer electronic appliances

Renamed Java, 1995, for developing Internet applications

HotJava
The first Java-enabled Web browser

Java applets java programs that run from a Web browser

http://javaboutique.internet.com/movingtree/

Characteristics of Java

Java is simple

Java is object-oriented

Java is distributed

Java is interpreted

Java is robust

Java is secure

Java is architecture-neutral

Java is portable

Javas performance

Java is multithreaded

Java is dynamic

Java IDE Tools

Inprise JBuilder

Microsoft Visual J++

Symantec Caf

Forte by Sun MicroSystems

IBM Visual Age for Java

NetBeans 6.0 (free, open-source IDE, runs on

Windows, Linux, Solaris, and the MacOS)

JCreator LE 4.0 (free) by Xinox Software

Java Language Specification, API,

JDK and IDE

Java Language Specification

Technical definition of the language which includes the
syntax and semantics of the Java Programming
language (java.sun.com/docs/books/jls)

API
Contains predefined classes and interfaces for
developing Java programs.
3 editions of Java API

J2SE - version Java SE 6.0 (jdk1.6.0_02)

J2EE
J2ME

Java Language Specification, API,

JDK and IDE

JDK
A set of programs for developing and testing
Java program, each of which is invoked from a
command line.

IDE (integrated development environment)

Software that provides integrated development
environment (editing, compiling, building,
debugging and online help) for rapidly
developing Java program

Getting Started with Java

Programming
A Simple

Java Application

Compiling

Programs

Executing Applications

A Simple Application
Example 1.1
//This application program prints Welcome
//to Java!
public class Welcome
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
System.out.println("Welcome to Java!");
}
}

Source

Run

Creating, compiling and executing a

Java Programs

Fig. 1.11, page: 44.

Compiling Programs

On command line
javac file.java

Executing Applications

On command line
java classname
Bytecode

Java
Interpreter
on Windows

Java
Interpreter
on Linux

...

Java
Interpreter
on Sun Solaris

Example
javac Welcome.java
java Welcome
output:...

Anatomy of a Java program

Comments
Reserved words
Modifier
Statement
Block
Class
Method
The main method

Anatomy of a Java program

Comments

Documents the program for understanding purpose

Ignored by compiler
//
/* */

Reserved words or keywords

Words that have specific meaning to the compiler and
cannot be used for other purposes in the program
E.g: public, static, class, void

Anatomy of a Java program

Modifier
Certain reserved words are modifiers that specify the
properties of the data, methods and class and how they
can be used.
E.g: public, private, static, final, abstract, protected.

Statement
Represents an action or a sequence of actions
Ends with semicolon (;)

Block
Groups the components of the program
Begins with opening brace { and ends with a closing
brace }
Class block, method block

Anatomy of a Java program

Class
Program is defined by using one or more class
Will be covered in more details later.

Method
A collection of statements that perform a sequence of
operations.
Can be used without fully understanding how it works.
Invoke by calling the method name with the
requirement argument

The main method

A special method where the program execution begins.
JVM invokes the main method to execute an
application.

Summary